Really bad weapons...

[dragoon500ly]

So who is to blame for the loss of five companies of US Cavalry at the Little Big Horn?

There is no doubt that Custer misread the strength of the Indians in the Little Big Horn Valley. His decision to split the regiment into three tactical battalions has often been blasted ever since. But it does not take a military genius to understand what Custer had planned. Plenty of evidence exists to support a strategy that was nothing less than brilliant, especially given the terrain.

Major Reno was ordered to move to the floor of the LBHV and charge the Indian village. Only Reno has stated that he was told by GAC that he would be supported by the whole outfit. Reno has also stated that he kept looking for any sign of reinforcement, which never appear.

Custer's movements after splitting off from Reno confirm that Custer never had any intention of following Reno to the Valley floor. Reno was part diversion, part strike force. It must be remembered that the Indians themselves were not aware of the Custer's Battalion until sometime after Reno's Attack. Custer was simply following his Civil War tactics of executing a frontal attack with one detachement while moving one or more detachements to attack from the flank or rear.

Reno's charge did cause great chaos among the unsuspecting Indians, this should have prevented them from mounting a defense or launching a counterattack. Then elements of Custer's Battalion would have descended from the bluffs and strike the villages from several locations. This would force the Indians to flee to the south, into Benteen's Battalion and then later into the hands of Crook's Column.

No less a personage than Chief Gall has stated that when Reno's troops launched their attack, the Indians were more concerned with tearing down what they could of their villages and running away.

So what went wrong?

Reno and Benteen went to their deathbeds swearing that Custer disobeyed the orders of General Terry and tried to steal all of the glory for himself. Studying the movements of the three Battalions shows that there was a plan, in spite of the Reno/Benteen claims and that it was a good plan with every right to expect sucess. Remember, that during the entire history of the Indian Wars up to this point, whenever Indians were attacked in their villages by the Army, in every case, the Indians took what they could and fled the scene.

But Reno's decision to not continue his charge, his decision to halt and go on the defense, his panic-stricken decision to flee that defense line allowed the Indians time to regroup and counterattack his command and then Custer's command. For this alone, he deserved to be courts-martialed and shot. The Reno Inquiry that took place was little more than a white-wash intended to protect the reputations of the Army, and that of the surviving officers. Custer had only his wife to speak up for him. The rest of Custer's adherents lay dead with him.